August 11, 2012

Pike's Peak is Electric

EVs are everywhere, braking their own records for now but I wonder how long it will be before they are faster than internal combustion cars.

Nobuhiro Monster Tajima, the ninja of Pikes Peak, driving the Team APEV Monster Sport E-Runner prototype will almost certainly pulverize the current Electric Vehicle record of 14:33 set last year by a Nissan Leaf.

The E-Runner is all wheel drive, driven by two liquid cooled motors powered by Mitsubishi Li-Ion batteries. Tajima has competition from the Radical based Toyota EV that set the Nürburgring EV lap record, not to mention a electrified e36 M3 and entries from Mitsubishi but "Monster" has experience on his side.

good question, I seem to recall reading that driving one of these cars means having a LOT of engine breaking, to the point where you really need to use the brakes very little compared to a traditional car.